I Can Help!

August 1, 2015
Preschool-G A little green frog is eager to help his parents in this beginning reader. As a level one entry in the Green Light Readers series, one simple sentence graces each page ( I can put mail in the mailbox ), with the remainder given to vintage-looking illustrationsthink Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories. The first half of the book shows the young frog running errands with his mom (picking up dry cleaning, shopping, putting groceries away), while in the second half, he helps his dad with chores around the house (painting, hanging the porch swing, raking). In his excitement to lend a hand, he makes quite a few messes, but he always helps clean up. The rhyming, formulaic text matched with Frog's enthusiasm and can-do attitude will help youngsters move toward independent reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2015
Sometimes a little one's help is more than the adults can handle. Lucky for Anderson's little frog, his mother is patient enough to accept all the help her son has to offer. Turns out, he likes to help a lot. Whether doing errands with Mommy or helping Daddy outside with chores, the cheerful narrator's enthusiasm never wanes. Young helpers will enjoy noticing the tension between the repeated refrain of "I can" and the actual "help" depicted. When picking up the dry cleaning, the overalls-clad imp hangs upside down from the plastic sheath, and when shopping, he adds five boxes of Frosty Flies cereal to the cart and drags the too-heavy bag by one handle, certainly causing a spill. While most youngsters will no doubt get a kick out of watching the "helpful" frog, their adults will likely flinch at the firmness of the gendered division of labor in this family. Is Mommy the only one running errands during the day, and is Daddy the only one who can handle nails, paint, and garden equipment? Though the story runs to only 32 pages, the repeated refrain slows its pace and lends it a feeling of monotony. Full-color illustrations lift the repetitive story and celebrate when, in the end, the little frog really does create something pretty special with some recycled jars. Nothing special. (Early reader. 5-8)

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